On Aug. 2 he’ll head to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association summer conference outside Orlando, and four days later he’ll hit the Gathering of the Eagles, an annual conservative barbecue in rural Oregon.

It’s a schedule that reinforces Cain’s image as an outsider whose ties are to the grassroots, not the party. (Cynics say that Cain, whose political experience starts and ends with a failed bid for the 2004 Republican Senate nomination in Georgia, has no choice but to run from the outside.)

And wherever he goes, he seems to leave impressed fans behind.

In Birmingham, for example, he spoke to a dinner of 350 people and met with three smaller groups beforehand. Although the Shelby County Republicans have gotten bigger stars in the past — John McCain spoke there during the last cycle — Cain was still a big get, and chairman Freddy Ard calls it “our best, most successful dinner ever by any measure.” Before Cain came to town, there was buzz, but he was still relatively unknown. Speaking for 45 minutes without notes, he made an impression. “The people at our event, whether they were committed to Herman Cain before or after, he made an awful compelling argument for his case,” Ard says. “He has a very unique ability to connect to people.”

Republicans in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, home to Cleveland, could be in for a similar experience at their annual picnic on Saturday. There Cain is one of two marquee names, along with nationally syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Chairman Steven Backiel says the county party invited all the contenders who were in the race several months ago, but Cain was the only one who agreed to attend. “We happened to get lucky and get a presidential candidate, someone on a national stage,” says Backiel. “It’s a good get for a picnic, but it’s a big picnic,” with 700 to 800 attendees.

At the Smart Girl Politics Summit in St. Louis later that afternoon, Cain will be one of two presidential candidates to speak; the other is Thaddeus McCotter, the Michigan representative who’s the darkest of dark horses. Cain agreed to speak, but Rep. Michele Bachmann — who attended last year’s summit — declined her invite this year, opting to barnstorm Iowa instead.

And in the case of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, it was Cain — whose background in the food industry, as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, is his calling card — who requested a slot to speak.